About Us

Observe and study the occurrence of tarantulas in the wild – these are our passions beside of actually keep and breed theraphosid spiders for many years now.

“birdspiders.ch” is a tarantula research project located in Switzerland. Our primary focus is research on the Theraphosidae subfamilies located in Central-South America and South-East-Asia and to share the gathered knowledge about them. Our research includes field trips, collecting data of species ranges and biogeographic limits. In the past we were able to collaborate with official research institutes, such as the Oxford University Museum of National History which led us to a project in Nicaragua, teamed together with Mr. Ray Gabriel and Dr. Stuart Longhorn. In December 2016 we were able to collaborate with UNAM, Mexico under lead of Dr. Francke and Dr. Jorge Mendoza. In search of known and new species we were able to collect valuable specimens and data of a yet undescribed Psalmopoeus species from southern Mexico and provided the scientists with a remarkable specimen which very well could be a new genus.

In the future we hope to find more collaborating partners in other parts of the world to conduct research – You can always achieve more if you share your knowledge with others. Thanks to all our friends and colleagues who helped us in all the years – without you our hobby would not be the same!

CO-FOUNDER

There are a lot of fascinating caveats and problems to solve while working as a full-time IT Security Consultant located near Zurich explains Martin Hüsser. Problem solving skills as well as thinking out of the box are necessary to satisfy customer needs all over the world. With traveling around the world in search of new and well known species of arachnids, mainly tarantulas (Theraphosidae) Martin is able to use his vast knowledge in the field of biology. For well over 12 years, Martin is fascinated of spiders and has had his first spider tarantula – well mentored and supported by local arachno enthusiasts such as Bastian Rast and Gian Sposato (name bearer of Lyrognathus giannisposatoi)Martin has travelled to a lot of countries of central and south America, namely Brasil, Argentina, Suriname, Panama, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Mexico and so on. But also South-East Asia with mainland Thailand and the island of Borneo were visited by him. Martin’s so far biggest success was the finding of a new species of tarantula, now known as Hapaloptremus martinorum. Together with his friend Martin Gamache he provides his surname as species name for this amazing species from northern Argentina. Pato Cavallo managed to describe this species after their trip to Argentina in 2011.In the year 2010, Reto Ehrler – one of the members of this website, and Martin Hüsser managed to get on their first spider research trip, based in Brasil. Right after the horrible loss from the fire at the Instituto Butantan in Brasil, they were able to help with GPS location data of recently found spiders from the visited provinces in Brasil. The feeling the group had after finding their first spider in the wild, a species from the subfamily Ischnocolinae, was unbelievable. Since this day the team of birdspiders.CH is trying to travel the world in search for helpful theraphosidae data and share it with the authorities who are in need of it.

CO-FOUNDER

Reto Ehrler started to travel the world in search for tarantulas in the same year as I did. Most of the trips and expeditions we managed to do together so far. As an experienced driver in all kind of terrain and his ability to find spider burrows and retreats within minutes, it’s always a pleasure to have him on a expedition in search for tarantulas – beside of his great character which make him an amazing travel companion.

Research on arachnids is still in its early phase. Due to our passion, we are conducting various fieldtrips around the world to gather specific data for arachnids, mainly Theraphosidae, for further research.